Former Scott airman advances in American Ninja Warrior contest

“You may think you’re tough,” former Scott Air Force Base Staff Sergeant Randall Forsythe said, “but when you start training for this specific challenge, you are proven wrong.”

But Forsythe, 29, now a technical sergeant-select working as a recruiter in College Station, Pa., was tough enough to advance to the next round of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior contest.

Forsythe said he made it to the fifth of six obstacles in just over two minutes during his run that was taped weeks ago but aired Monday night. He came in 17th out of 110 competitors in the San Pedro, Calif., taping that featured all military members. Forsythe’s run was edited out of the episode that aired Monday due to time constraints.

The fifth obstacle in the course was the I-beam cross, where contestants had to hang by their fingertips and advance along an I-beam bent into several dips, rises and turns. That’s the obstacle Forsythe fell from.

“Your arms burn out pretty quick,” Forsythe said.

He rushed from the previous obstacle to the I-beam, and he said he could have completed the challenge if he’d taken more time to rest first.

Forsythe is driven to do what no one else has ever done. In the seven seasons of the American version of the program that originated in Japan, no one has completed the 10 obstacles that make up the American course.

“The biggest thing for me is to say I accomplished something that no one else has accomplished,” he said. “I always sat here and said I could do these things.”

There’s also money involved. If Forsythe wins the entire competition, he’ll be the new owner of $1 million.

And with that much at stake, it’s easy to assume things have been pretty competitive in San Pedro. But Forsythe said it’s been more constructive going through the contest with other military members.

“I’ve gotten to train with a lot of great guys. The four guys I trained with, we all made it through to the next round,” he said. “We’re actually saying you need to do this better, you need to do that better. Your success is my success.”

Forsythe actually has already competed in the next round, but it won’t be aired for several more weeks. He’s not allowed to talk about how he performed, but expressed his gratitude to his fans in the metro-east.

“I got a lot of support going out there. I want to thank everybody. I just want to show people what they can do when they have a lot of people pulling for them,” he said.

NBC airs episodes of American Ninja Warrior at 7 p.m. Mondays. Supporters can also follow Forsythe’s progress through his fan page on Facebook.

This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 9:13 AM with the headline "Former Scott airman advances in American Ninja Warrior contest."